Call of Duty is too big to fail, according to a reader who argues the franchise will never truly die, even after the poorly received Black Ops 7. The reader, Shafer, writing in a Reader's Feature for GameCentral, says that while many franchises have declined, Call of Duty fills a fundamental need that keeps players coming back.
Black Ops 7's Failure and Modern Warfare 4's Recovery
Shafer notes that after last year, most people would have added Call of Duty to the list of declining franchises, despite it being only 23 years old. He believes the series has been downhill since at least Modern Warfare 3, but really as far back as Vanguard in 2021. He says Black Ops 7 was so bad that people were starting to say that maybe this was it and Call of Duty is dead, or at least dying.
However, he argues this is never going to happen. He points out that Modern Warfare 4 is starting to repair the damage done by Black Ops 7, and that everyone seems to think it is actually pretty good. Although he has only played a bit so far, he says it is certainly better than Black Ops 7.
Why Call of Duty Has No Real Rival
Shafer, a medium to casual fan who played the most on Xbox 360, says he is surprised that there has never been an attempt to create a rival. He says Battlefield is often said to be it, but it is a very different game (and came out first). It is a rival in that it is the next biggest military sim, but it is a lot more serious, a lot more open world, and vehicles are central to it.
He argues that Call of Duty is about close quarters combat and not taking itself too seriously. It is not a simulation, and while some entries are more realistic than others, that is never the selling point. The selling point is that it is the game of soldiers you used to play as a kid in the playground.
Players Always Come Back
Shafer says people are always going to want that, and while no other game is around to rival it, Call of Duty is that game. Even when it loses players, like it did with Black Ops 7, it is still so massive it would take multiple flops for it to be in real trouble.
He concludes that people want Call of Duty to be good, and although it may be trendy to criticise it, that does not stop anyone from playing it. He compares it to EA Sports FC, saying it is the only other game that is guaranteed to sell as well because people want a football game. He adds that with Call of Duty, players already want what it is selling before they start, and it has to be really bad for even a small percentage of them to be put off, but they will be back.
